Design Ecosystem in Portugal. Education, Research and Entrepreneurship

The article aims to frame the Design Ecosystem in Portugal, presenting data on education, research and employability in design, and identify possible causes for the still fragile connection between design and the industry. In Portugal, the extinction of the Portuguese Design Center, in 2013, exacerbates this lack of representation of design among companies, the public administration, and the general public, an space that is urgent to occupy. Oriented to observe, discuss, and think about the schools and research in design in the context of the national ecosystem, the REDE — Meeting of Design Schools presents itself as a sharing space for designing the future of Design Schools. The REDE started as an initiative of the Design Observatory in Portugal project of the ID+ Research Institute for Design, Media and Culture that aims to collect and interpret data from the Portuguese Design ecosystem to promote knowledge and influence public policies.